Young Sherlock Showcases Moriarty’s Origin Story, a First for Live-Action Adaptations

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Guy Ritchie is bringing Sherlock Holmes back to screens with a new TV series, Young Sherlock, scheduled to premiere on Prime Video in 2026. It’s been 15 years since Ritchie last directed a Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey Jr., and this series could launch a fresh take on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle detective.

While there are many differences between Young Sherlock and Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films, the biggest one involves the main villain. Introducing James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’s famous enemy, into Young Sherlock is a significant change from how these characters have been portrayed in other live-action movies and TV shows.

Everyone’s talking about the fact that Sherlock Holmes’s famous partner, John Watson, won’t be in the new Prime Video show. But the appearance of a young Moriarty is actually the more important development. This prequel gives Moriarty a history that we would never have gotten in Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes 3.

As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, I think Young Sherlock does something really interesting – it takes the rivalry with Moriarty way back, showing them as students together at Oxford. It’s a fresh take because even the novels that came before, like those by Lane, and the Robert Downey Jr. films, never explored their history that early on. It really sets this series apart – we get to see the very beginnings of their complicated relationship.

Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock Will Feature James Moriarty’s Backstory

Guy Ritchie’s upcoming film, Young Sherlock, takes a surprising approach to the classic story. Instead of enemies, Sherlock Holmes and his future rival, Moriarty, will be portrayed as friends and classmates at Oxford University, learning their skills as a detective and criminal mastermind together.

The initial trailer for Young Sherlock highlights the close friendship between the characters, all set against a stylish, steampunk backdrop. If the Prime Video show follows the fast-paced action of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films, we can expect Moriarty to be right in the middle of the adventures alongside his new friend.

Giving Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’s greatest enemy, a history as a childhood friend adds depth to his character and explains why he became Holmes’s ultimate opponent. In doing so, Guy Ritchie’s new television series expands on the story in a way his previous movies didn’t.

This is the first time an English-language Sherlock Holmes adaptation has explored James Moriarty’s history in such detail. The show is doing something truly new and addressing a major weakness of the villain in the Robert Downey Jr. films.

Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes Movies Never Revealed Moriarty’s Origins

Warner Bros. Pictures

The upcoming series, Young Sherlock, will continue the action-packed style of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films, portraying the famously intelligent detective as a daring hero. However, the show will also delve into the backstory of James Moriarty, presenting a different version of his life than what was shown in the films.

Professor Moriarty first appears in the Sherlock Holmes films as a mysterious figure referenced at the end of the first movie. He’s formally introduced to Holmes early in A Game of Shadows. When they finally meet, it’s surprisingly casual – Holmes simply walks into Moriarty’s study and asks him to autograph a book, despite never having encountered him before.

Moriarty greets Holmes with, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” establishing that the two have never met before. The film A Game of Shadows provides no further details about the professor’s background, leaving him as a complete stranger to Holmes.

The movie quickly establishes that his crimes are motivated by making money from war. We never learn the deeper reasons behind his extreme wickedness, or any specific personal grudge he holds against Holmes. In fact, when they first encounter each other, Holmes casually attributes Moriarty’s behavior to narcissism and psychopathic tendencies.

Arthur Conan Doyle Also Never Explained How Moriarty Became Sherlock’s Nemesis

Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films aren’t unique in leaving Moriarty’s background a mystery. This is actually a long-standing tradition, as Arthur Conan Doyle, the original author, never revealed how Moriarty became Holmes’s enemy either.

Compared to other film versions of Sherlock Holmes, Young Sherlock stands out as being quite different from the original stories. Notably, the character of Professor Moriarty appears in only a couple of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes tales.

Sherlock Holmes first seemed to meet his end in the 1893 short story, “The Final Problem.” In reality, author Arthur Conan Doyle intentionally wrote the story with the plan to kill off his famous detective.

Moriarty wasn’t just a villain; he was created as a way for the author to finally retire his famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, because he’d become tired of writing about him. Interestingly, Arthur Conan Doyle ended up writing many more Sherlock Holmes stories after 1893, including the novel The Valley of Fear in 1914, which also featured Moriarty.

Professor Moriarty became Sherlock Holmes’ most famous enemy, and he’s appeared in many Sherlock Holmes movies and TV shows over the last hundred years. However, Arthur Conan Doyle, the author, never fully developed Moriarty’s character, always seeing him as simply a tool to move the plot forward.

Young Sherlock Is The 1st Live-Action Holmes Adaptation To Give Moriarty An Origin Story

While Natalie Dormer’s portrayal of a female Moriarty in the show Elementary offered a fresh take on the character’s dynamic with Sherlock Holmes, it didn’t delve into the origins of Moriarty’s criminal genius. The anime series Moriarty the Patriot is unique in that it actually explores how and why Moriarty became a criminal mastermind.

The new series, Young Sherlock, will be the first live-action adaptation to reveal how James Moriarty became a villain. This is a significant development for the character, and it addresses a major unanswered question from the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr.

The film Young Sherlock establishes the origins of the intense rivalry between Moriarty and Holmes, giving us a better understanding of their dangerous conflict as adults. Arthur Conan Doyle himself would likely appreciate this clever addition to their story, as it provides valuable insight into their complex relationship.

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2025-12-29 00:30